WEBVTT I'M SOLEDAD O'BRIEN. WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FACT" FROM NEW YORK CITY. WHEN THE 116TH U.S. CONGRESS CONVENES ON JANUARY 3, IT WILL HAVE THE LARGEST NUMBER OF WOMEN EVER ELECTED. MORE THAN 120 WOMEN WILL JOIN THE HOUSE AND SENATE. AND IT'S NOT JUST IN POLITICS WHERE WOMEN ARE CLOSING THE GENDER GAP. TODAY WOMEN MAKE UP 47% OF THE U.S. LABOR FORCE. THAT'S UP FROM 30% IN 1950. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO MEN UNDERSTANDING WHAT WOMEN EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB, THERE'S STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. JUST ASK DANIEL STAPLETON. HOW HIS FEMALE CO-WORKERS ARE TREATED AT WORK AND THE RESULTS STARTED A NEW COMPANY WITH ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES. IT'S CALLED IN HER SIGHT. AND URSULA MEAD ABOUT HOW TELL ME THE STORY OF HOW THE COMPANY STARTED. >> IT STARTED EARLY ON, URSULA AND I WORKED AT A COMPANY THAT CARED A LOT ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES. ONE OF THE WAYS THEY SHOWED THAT WAS BY DOING SURVEYED TO SEE HOW EVERYONE WAS FEELING. SO ONE OF THOSE SURVEYS WAS GIVEN TO US, AND IT WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE. EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY TOOK IT. AFTER WE TOOK THE SURVEY, WE WERE KIND OF COMPARING NOTES ON OUR RESPONSES. URSULA AND MYSELF AND A COUPLE WOMEN WHO SAT NEAR ME. AND IT WAS AN INTERESTING KIND OF COURSE IT'S NOT A REVELATION THAT PEOPLE ARE HAVING DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES. IN LIFE. SOLEDAD: IT WAS TO YOU. >> BUT THERE WAS A BIT OF A -- SOLEDAD: WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE DIFFERENT ANSWERS THAT YOU WERE GIVING. >> IT WAS TO THE LEVEL OF, I WAS NOT SWITCHED ONTO THE IDEA. ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS WHAT IS THAT IS WOMEN? I SAID 50-50. BECAUSE WHY WOULDN'T IT BE? SOLEDAD: AND WHEN YOU STOPPED LAUGHING, URSULA. >> YEAH. SO THERE WAS A LOT OF DIFFERENCES. IN HOW WE HAD ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS. THAT GOT A SPARK GOING. SOLEDAD: WHAT WERE THE OTHER QUESTIONS? JUST THROW THEM OUT THERE. >> THERE WERE THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE BEING HEARD IN MEETINGS. THINGS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, OUR OPINIONS -- IS YOUR WORK BEING VALUED. THOSE TYPE OF GENERAL EMPLOYEE SOLEDAD: WAS DANIEL AN OUTLIER IN THIS OR DID YOU FEEL LIKE HE WAS CONSISTENT WITH ALL THE OTHER MEN WITHIN THE COMPANY? >> SO I THINK THAT WE SAW THEN AND WE CONTINUE TO SEE IN THE WORK THAT WE DO TODAY THAT THERE AS A WHOLE AND THE ISSUES THAT WOMEN FACE. THERE ARE ALWAYS A FEW WHO HAVE EARLIER OR ARE MORE AWARE AND I CAN REMEMBER A FEW VOICES THAT SORT OF WERE LAUGHING WITH US WHO WERE OTHER MEN. BUT FOR THE MOST PART, IT WAS EYE-OPENING FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. INCLUDING THE COMPANY AS A WHOLE. IT WAS AN EXPERIENCE THAT CHANGED THE PEOPLE. SOLEDAD: OPRAH WOULD SAY IT WAS THE AH-HA MOMENT. AND IT LED TO YOU STARTING THE COMPANY. >> YEAH. IT MOSTLY LED TO ME JUST KIND OF BEING MORE AWARE OF THIS AND OBSERVING THIS IN MY LIFE IN THE COMPANY AND ELSEWHERE. SOLEDAD: YOU PULLED 1,200 WOMEN ALLIES AT WORK. WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE AND WERE YOU SURPRISED BY IT? >> I WAS. SO THE RESPONSE WAS CLOSE TO 50% WERE NOT SURE IF THEY HAD MALE ALLIES AT WORK. THEY MIGHT NOT. SOLEDAD: THAT'S SAD. >> IT IS. I THINK WE TALK A LOT ABOUT HOW TO ENGAGE MEN, WHETHER TO ENGAGE MEN. AND I THINK THAT STAT SAID TO US, WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB OF ENGAGING MEN. SOLEDAD: ONE THING I REALIZED EARLY ON WORKING IN A BIG OFFICE WAS THAT IF I COULD GET A GUY TO KIND OF SAY THE THING THAT I WAS SAYING, IT OFTEN TOOK MY MESSAGE MUCH FARTHER. I ALWAYS APPRECIATED THAT BUT THERE WAS A BIT OF A RUB, RIGHT? LIKE, WHAT'S THE LINE BETWEEN SPEAKING FOR YOU. >> WE TEND TO THINK OF IT AS REDIRECTING ATTENTION. AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. IN THOSE TYPE OF SITUATIONS. HOW CAN YOU -- IF YOU GET THE ATTENTION, HOW CAN YOU GUIDE IT BACK TO, LIKE, OH, SO URSULA WAS SAYING THIS. OR THAT'S THE IDEA THAT URSULA HAD JUST HAD ABOUT THIS. SORT OF JUST MAKING SURE THAT YOU'RE ALWAYS REDIRECTING TO THE PERSON WHO DESERVES THE CREDIT FOR WHATEVER'S BEING SAID. SOLEDAD: SOMETIMES I WOULD FEEL LIKE, AS LONG AS IT GETS DONE, WHO CARES ABOUT THE CREDIT. >> I THINK THAT WORKS UP TO A POINT. THAT WE'RE MAKING. SOLEDAD: HOW DOES HARASSMENT CONNECT TO ALL OF THIS? IS IT A SIMPLE -- AS SIMPLE AS THAT? OR IS IT MORE COMPLICATED? >> HARASSMENT HAS BEEN SOMETHING THAT WE'VE STARTED TO MEASURE MORE ON OUR SITE. SO WE COLLECT DATA ON HOW WOMEN ARE FEELING ABOUT THEIR WORKPLACES AND HOW SUPPORTIVE THEY ARE. WOMEN ARE 50% OF THE WORK FORCE AND TALENT POOL. THIS IS NOT SOME SMALL SEGMENT OF PEOPLE COMING OUT OF UNIVERSITIES AND PROGRAMS THAT THEY'RE LOOKING TO HIRE. COMPANIES NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO BETTER SUPPORT WOMEN. SOLEDAD: HOPEFULLY THEY'LL GET IT. URSULA MEAD AND DAN

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Changing The Way Women Are Treated at Work

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Updated: 10:27 AM EST Nov 24, 2018

Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce. Yet, many women say company culture still doesn’t reflect this. Daniel Stapleton was shocked to find out how little he knew about how his female colleagues were treated at work. It spurred him into action, and with another co-worker, he launched a new company, In Her Sight, to help make a change.

Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce. Yet, many women say company culture still doesn’t reflect this. Daniel Stapleton was shocked to find out how little he knew about how his female colleagues were treated at work. It spurred him into action, and with another co-worker, he launched a new company, In Her Sight, to help make a change.